Westworld Roundup: Thandie Newton on a Mother’s Love, Designer Sharen Davis on Costume Choices, and Katja Herbers on Working with Ed Harris

Another week down, another day closer to the next episode of Westworld! While we wait, we have a few new interviews to share. Thandie Newton explains what’s driving Maeve this season, costume designer Sharen Davis explains her clothing choices for each character, and Katja Herbers shares her experience playing William’s daughter, Emily.

Maeve has spent season two searching for her daughter in the park, and this week she finally found her. Thandie Newton explains to TheWrap how strongly motherhood is affecting Maeve’s motivations this year. “This is a whole new frontier of what a mother is: literally fighting for your child, bearing arms, hiding and seeking and struggling and physically, you know, tearing new parts to find your child.”

As a mother herself, Newton enjoys exploring this side of her character. “That’s a kind of primal energy that you don’t see on screen. And yet, it’s every day in terms of how a woman feels and what’s at the center of every family on the planet — which is a woman who is birthing and protecting and fighting for her children.” She adds, “That fight isn’t necessarily a physical one, but it exists in us, and it’s a force and an energy which drives the planet forward.” It’s certainly driving Maeve forward, but now that there is a new mother in the picture, she may face a huge obstacle in her quest to get her daughter back.

In an interview with Vulture, costume designer Sharen Davis reveals her process for choosing outfits for some of the main Westworld characters. First and foremost, she tries to differentiate hosts from guests when they are in the park. “There are definitely rules for what a guest wears and what a host wears. The hosts are more authentic, and the guests are cleaner and a little more colorful.”

Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood) is no longer the sweet rancher’s daughter, and Davis wanted her clothing to reflect that. “She’s the best for the word deconstruction. This is her more evolved, more human-thinking character for her rebel place in where she’s going with her anger.” Davis didn’t want to completely revamp her look, however. “I felt if we totally changed her clothes, there was no place where she would’ve done that, and it would’ve been strange. So why don’t we deconstruct what she has on?”

For Angela (Talulah Riley), Davis did want a whole new look. “I looked at all of season one and there are snippets of her in different types of Western clothing. I pulled from all of her looks and developed her one look, and added a coat. The crown is made from bones.” Angela clothing and loose, flowing hair is meant to reflect that she’s now in control over her life. “It’s to represent her freedom. It’s her free will and her choice of hair,” Davis explains.

Maeve is out of the brothel and embracing her maternal side, so Davis needed her clothes to match this character change. “I wanted to calm down her sexuality for the season. She looked amazing in the first season, but it was so sexually charged. I wanted everyone to see that she’s on a different mission now.” Davis reveals there is one aspect to Maeve’s outfits that has stayed the same though. “The only notes I specifically got were if we could keep her red colors somewhere in whatever she wears.”

Head to Vultureto read about her choices for some of the other Westworld characters.

Katja Herbers dropped by KTLA 5 Morning News this week to discuss her Westworld experience. She reveals that she wasn’t sure who her character was supposed to be at first, as the audition process was very secretive. “I didn’t know much,” she says. “I knew that I was on a mission, and then once I got the part, [showrunner] Lisa Joy said ‘I should probably tell you who you are.’” Herbers adds, “And then she sat me down and told me that I was going to play…the Man in Black’s daughter, and my jaw dropped to the floor.”

Herbers was tremendously excited about the prospect of working closely with Ed Harris, and she has nothing but praise for her costar. She describes her experience working with him as “above and beyond anything I could have dreamed of. He’s the most generous and wonderful person, and just one of the best actors alive.”

When asked about the difficulties portraying anger and hatred toward someone she admires so well, Herbers explains that it’s not hard to do, but also that Emily’s emotions are conflicted when it comes to William. “It’s the only father she has, and I think she loves him as well. I think it’s very complicated, her feelings towards him.”

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